Tuesday, June 14, 2016

Minimalism My Way

Lately, I've been getting more and more interested in simple living, also known as minimalism.  And I don't at all mean to imply that I'm becoming someone who's about to give away all of my possessions and live in a tiny house.  But I LOVE the idea of scaling back in order to simplify.

Last year, during the beginning of the hoopla over Marie Kondo's book, The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up, I decluttered a LOT of crap... I got rid of at least half my clothes, tons of useless knick knacks around the house, books I wasn't reading, etc.  And it felt great.  I haven't missed one single thing I let go of and realize I'm happier with less. Now that I got my feet wet, so to speak, I'm ready to scale back even more.  So I'm decluttering yet again.

And I don't just mean my possessions.

If you read my blog even occasionally,you probably know that I love going to the public library.  I mention it a lot. Finding interesting books,checking them out, and bringing them home to read makes me happy.

It sounds innocent enough, right?  I'm using the library!  I'm not spending money on these books!  And I'm not accumulating books that will stay on my shelves for long!

But, here's the problem. I never check out just one book.  Or even just two.  I noticed yesterday morning I had 10 books checked out from the library.  Since I can only read one at a time, while those others sit around, waiting their turn- they make my house look a little cluttered.  Even worse, it gives me low grade anxiety knowing I need to get to all of those books before their due dates. Because the "need to read the other books" anxiety is looming, I often feel the need to rush through whatever book I am currently reading. And that is a bummer, because it takes away some of the joy of reading.

Today, I decided to return everything I had checked out from the library.  I had just finished one, and  none of the other 9 that where waiting in line looked thrilling anymore.  Maybe they did the day I brought them home, but at this point, they were just feeling like clutter I wanted to get rid of. Plus, why be a hog and keep more than I need?  There are other readers out there, who am I to be so selfish? I just need ONE book at a time.

So, I was off to the library, to return those, and find the one and only book that I was going to check out.  I went to the "New Books" shelf and my hand went straight to the very first book I saw.
No Baggage by Clara Bensen
A little ironic?  I think Alannis Moressette would think so, and I agree.

So that's it.  My lone loaner from the library. That's a big step for me.  In my world, that's as big of a deal as getting rid of half the clothes in my closet.

Minimalism... my way. 




2 comments:

Valerie said...

Good for you! Let me know how the book is.

kerri arista said...

i'm about to blog about it. it was good! :)